Headlands Technologies LLC Has $507,000 Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Headlands Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 57.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,532 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PRU. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,801,000 after buying an additional 36,599 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 46.8% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,020,000 after purchasing an additional 20,235 shares during the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth $815,000. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $2,112,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,500,000 after buying an additional 34,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PRU. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. TheStreet raised Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.42.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total transaction of $782,792.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total transaction of $782,792.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $110.50. 1,110,106 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,226,730. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $111.75 and a 200-day moving average of $103.73. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.22 and a 52 week high of $118.69. The stock has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The company had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.71%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.73%.

Prudential Financial Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Life, and International Businesses segments.